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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30072981">Valley of Halls (Closed Indefinitely)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiwibuns/pseuds/kiwibuns'>kiwibuns</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood and Gore, But it's not a person so, Dream Team SMP Roleplay (Video Blogging RPF), Existential Crisis, It Pronouns, More tags and characters to come</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:02:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,159</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30072981</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiwibuns/pseuds/kiwibuns</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ranboo traverses one of the hall of switches, not daring to touch any. Each hall was a specific color, this one… being plain white. He couldn’t find the end to the room, it just kept going for eternity almost. He could hear the slight dings of metal and trickles of water. But he couldn’t get to them. Whenever he turned to see behind him, a wall crept close as if he never moved in the first place.</p><p>Where... is he?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ranboo can't open his eyes. He can feel the air around him warp into patterns and shapes, an overwhelming fluttering taking over every sensation in his body. It felt like eyelashes or cobwebs were going through him, then a burning. He screams into the abyss, not able to hear his own pained screams, then-</p><p>Immediately, it stops. He opens his eyes, and he sees… buttons.</p><p>More specifically, switches. Different switches are laid out across the expansive room, ranging in colors and sizes. They’re split up into different halls, one’s he can see overhead the walls. </p><p>Ranboo traverses one of the hall of switches, not daring to touch any. Each hall was a specific color, this one… being plain white. He couldn’t find the end to the room, it just kept going for eternity almost. He could hear the slight <em> dings </em> of metal and trickles of water. But he couldn’t get to them. Whenever he turned to see behind him, a wall crept close as if he never moved in the first place.</p><p>“Hello, Ranboo.”</p><p>He stopped in his tracks and his blood ran cold. Desperately, he turned to see a projection of himself, standing with his hands folded together. It smiled with a bright grin, its posture fixed up nicely. But it was not his voice.<br/>
<br/>
“H-hello?” Ranboo adjusted the collar around his neck when his voice came out as a squeak.</p><p>“Hello!” The projection let out a boisterous laugh and it made Ranboo jump. </p><p>“Ah, don’t be scared!” The projection's expression changed into that of worry, with its hands coming to try and save Ranboo, but he only took a step back to avoid it. “Right, this is what I was expecting. Hello, Ranboo! Welcome to the Valley of Halls.”</p><p>Ranboo’s throat closed and he looked around the area, nothing had changed. “Valley? How did I…?”<br/>
<br/>
“Ah, you don’t have to worry about the technicalities!” The projection waved his hand around and it only grew into Ranboo’s suspicions more. “There are different tasks in each hall, and this one happens to be the beginner hall. Nothing exciting happens, you just meet me.”</p><p>Ranboo squinted at it and couldn’t find anything that wasn’t on him. It was a perfect model of himself, down to the creases in his pants. </p><p>“Okay, so… what do I have to do to get out?” He brought himself back up to a confident stance, and it only cooed. It made him feel pathetic.<br/>
<br/>
“See these switches?” It pointed to one behind it and played with the handle- it was a light switch. They all were. “You just have to flick them down. The hall will stop moving with you once you reach a specific amount. Easy, yes?”</p><p>“There’s a catch.”<br/>
<br/>
“There is no catch, Ranboo.”</p><p>“Then…?”</p><p>“Then what?” It tilted its head and smiled. “That’s all there is- oh, but there is a different theme and task in each room, did I mention?”</p><p>“Yes, you did…”</p><p>“And you don’t have to worry about that in this one. It is simply a tutorial.” It flipped the switch it was holding and the switch lit up into a warm light. “For the tutorial, you only have to flip what you see around you. Don't be shy, go on.”<br/>
<br/>
Ranboo stayed in his place as the projection stood away from the wall. He slowly, very cautiously, made his way to a switch and turned it off. A light from it switches on.</p><p>“Excellent!” It clapped its hands together and Ranboo looks back. “That is all you have to do for now. Even if there is one wall here, there will be more than one in the rest. I will leave you be, now; good luck!”</p><p>The projection lit off and Ranboo was back with his own thoughts, the sounds of metal going <em> ding </em> and water that trickled. He spent the rest of his time flipping off the switches, watching as the walls started to light up into a bright white. It hurt his eyes, but he kept going for a few minutes. </p><p>When he came to the last switch, it was accompanied by a door. The door was nothing special, one you’d see in a family home. He took his chances and flipped it down, waiting for anything. Nothing happened for a while, just a light switch that was down, with no light coming from it.</p><p>Then suddenly, the door started to disperse into the air and he stood back, startled. He could hear a laugh coming from above, but when he looked, he saw nothing.<br/>
<br/>
“Good job, Ranboo!” it was the projection’s voice again, the muffled sound making it seem from an intercom. “Now just go through the door, and you’ll be on your way to the next room!” </p><p>Before any questions could be made, he could hear the intercom switch off. He stared out through the opening, finding green light trickling from his right. He took a breath in, adjusted his jacket, and went along the opening to the green light.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. renewal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Talk of past death and detailing's of injuries.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The once hole in the wall fills in with a door and slams shut, throwing Ranboo into a panic. He goes to open it back up, to no avail. He sighs loudly and starts walking towards the light. </p><p> </p><p>What he thought would take a mere minute took several, up to an hour even. The door continued to inch further and further from him, until it left him into a sprint. When ten, twenty, thirty minutes of running in place left him about to cough up a lung, he fell to the ground. His breathing was laboured, his skin hot from movement, his legs sore. The intercom switched on when he was able to catch his breath, and laughter was heard. The voice was different than earlier.<br/>
<br/>
“Welcome to your second task, Ranboo!” It spoke with enthusiasm, it’s voice lower pitch than before. </p><p>Ranboo caught onto the words and in a haze, watched as the opening to the room moved towards him. He frowned and got on his feet, walking through to see a different scene. </p><p>The room was lit in a pale green and the walls a darker green, with leaves and such growing out of the cracks from the switches. The switches were made of glass, a small diamond on top of them all. He brought a hand forward to turn the first one off, watching as a plant growing from it withered away. He stared at the black leaves as the soft piano began to play. He frowned. </p><p>“Where’s that piano coming from?” he asks out loud. It laughs.</p><p>“He’s playing piano.” It changes subjects before he’s able to ask. “Your new task is to revive all the plants you kill.” Ranboo turns to look at it, about to ask another question, but-</p><p>But. </p><p>“Tubbo?”<br/>
<br/>
He feels a quiet rage burn in his core, seeing the projection match everything <em> about </em> Tubbo, the smile as sweet as he remembered.</p><p>“I am surprised you remembered him.” There’s a hitch in its voice, as if it were a lie. “But, no. I am merely a projection.” </p><p>Ranboo finds a fistful of his pant fabric as he tries to simmer down the fire inside him. Through gritted teeth, he nods and says, “Alright, then. How do I revive them?”</p><p>It laughed. It only made his anger worse. “Oh, you will figure out in due time, won’t you? I’ll leave you be for now, though; get to work!”</p><p>As quickly as it came, it was gone. Ranboo hit his fist into the wall, the dead leaves falling to the ground and evaporating. His now throbbing hand began to flip the switches, watching as vibrant flowers and vines, even grapes, fell to their deaths.</p><p>Ranboo grows bored within the hour of flipping down the glass switches, watching plants fall to their deaths, thinking of ways he can revive them. He can see a door at the end of the hall eventually, dark oak door in a circle pattern. It reminds him of a fantasy series he read when he was a child, one he couldn’t recall, so he quickened his pace. </p><p>At last, the final switch is left. The flower that hangs from it is an Allium one he has yet to see, vibrant in it’s color but a single petal laying at his feet. He feels a twinge of guilt when he pulls the switch down, but when nothing happens and the petals stay as bright, he frowns. </p><p>“Hello?” He calls out for the voice, keeping his eyes fixed on the switch as he pulls it up and down over and over. “Did I miss something?”</p><p>“What do you blame yourself for, Ranboo?”</p><p>He turns suddenly with cold blood to see the projection right behind him, smiling. It’s still Tubbo, his outfit changed into a black suit. Not only was his winter coat gone, but the scars…</p><p>“W-what do you mean?” He backs away from it, hitting the wall with a dull thud.</p><p>“I mean what I said.” Its smile grows. “What do you blame yourself for?”<br/>
<br/>
Ranboo looks around the two of them, looking for anything as a distraction, but to no avail. “I don’t- nothing? I don’t have many-”</p><p>“What do you blame yourself for?”</p><p>“I <em> don’t-” </em></p><p>“What do you?-”</p><p>“I said I don’t!”</p><p>“Ranboo…?”</p><p>He turns quickly to face the other voice across the hall, one matching Tubbo’s, and there stands the man of the hour. He’s in his winter coat, ears turned down and huddled next to a crying child. A piglin. His child. </p><p>“Ranboo, how could you...?” Tubbo asks, petting the head of Michael. There’s tears staining Tubbo’s cheek, but no injury. Ranboo feels relief, followed by anger.<br/>
<br/>
“I didn’t do anything, Tubbo!” He holds a hand to his chest and the projection clicks his tongue. Ranboo turns back to it with a racing heart. “Right…?” </p><p>Ranboo immediately notes changes- bandages around its face and covering an eye, blood peeking out from under a tattered and singed shirt, jacket gone and hands bloodied from scratch marks that crawl up its arms. “What do you blame yourself for?” Its voice stayed level.</p><p>“Why, Ranboo!?” Tubbo’s voice picks up in desperation. </p><p>Michael cries. </p><p>The piano grows urgent.</p><p>All at once, they all talk at once, with no remorse for one another. Ranboo covers his ears to drown them all out, kneeling down to the floor in hopes they fade. But they only grow stronger, pounding into his ears, carving shapes into his skull. Finally, he lets out a pained yell, shaking his head with a strong urgency. It falls quiet. </p><p>His throat burns. He flutters his eyes open when the quiet becomes too loud, and he looks around. Tubbo is nowhere to be seen, him and Michael gone. The piano playing has come to an end, and all that’s left is Ranboo and the projection, now of Tubbo current day.</p><p>“What do you blame yourself for?” It smiles at him, “Ranboo?”</p><p>Ranboo pulls his hands away from his ears and stands. The projection doesn’t waver, doesn’t move, as if frozen to time. He opens his mouth and closes it. He frowns.</p><p>“I blame myself for Tubbo.” His voice is quiet. He doesn’t look at it when he speaks. </p><p>“Explain, Ranboo.” It asks. He nods. </p><p>“I blame myself for not protecting Tubbo.”<br/>
<br/>
“When?” </p><p>“During the festival.” He nods to himself. He has a headache. </p><p>It clicks its tongue again and its head shakes. “You cannot blame yourself when you weren’t there.”</p><p>“But if I <em> was-” </em></p><p>“You did not know any of them.” It reminds him. “You were not present in their lives yet.”<br/>
<br/>
Ranboo lets that sink in, picking at loose threads on his jacket. “But…”<br/>
<br/>
A beat of silence.<br/>
<br/>
“But what, Ranboo?”</p><p>Ranboo sighs and shakes his head. It was right, unfortunately. He just wishes it wasn’t.</p><p>His headache is gone as quickly as it came.<br/>
<br/>
The projection smiles and nods, big and proud. “You have completed your first task, Ranboo. Look at your work.” It brings its hand out and Ranboo follows, watching as all the once black plants turn back to their green and lively state. The fallen petals, leaves, and grapes disappear and return back to their original state. The piano plays once more.</p><p>Ranboo is left standing there, stunned. He turns to look behind him, the allium still vibrant in its colors, the switch turned back on. He goes to turn, to ask the projection about it, but it’s gone before he gets a chance. </p><p>So he watches the flower with a timid smile, quick to pull the lever down. The flower does not die, and the door turns to dust. He laughs wildly when he can see blue lighting up the corridor, quick to rush out of the green halls and to the next room. He hopes to find an exit soon, he can’t be trapped here forever.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>The allium withers slowly when Ranboo leaves, withers until it’s dust.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed :)<br/>(if you saw purple light instead of blue, no)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey, thanks for reading. I hope to add more to this series, cause I think it's a really neat concept. keep in mind going forward, there will be sensitive themes that will either be briefly mentioned or I'll go into detail. I'll put a warning for each chapter there's a theme, so don't worry.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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